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A faithful presence of love in the absences of our city.

Friendship Reimagined

Justin opened his sermon with the reality that “adulthood is friendships greatest challenge”. Ain’t that the truth! I remember the first year following my graduation from college; I was newly married and living in a big city. I had just come from a friendship-saturated season in life to be faced with the reality where meeting new people, finding time to get together, and maintaining depth with others was a challenge. I was lonely and ached for a small taste of the friendships I had left behind.

Gospel friendships require messy entanglement in each other’s lives. We were challenged to look at the relational substitutes we use to avoid truly knowing each other: social media, selfishness, idolization, and specialized (seasonal) friendships. As we function within these substitutes we loose little bits of our humanity and continue in the cycle of avoiding the work of being vulnerable in our friendships, all the while longing for real relationships.

As we look to Christ and His gospel to provide us the tools to be real friends, we learn that the work on the cross promises us that we can be fully known and still find acceptance. What a friend we have in Jesus! Because of what Jesus has done, the communities of friendships we have are a refuge where we find our healing.

Constancy, careful candor and counsel, and sacrificial love mark true friendships. This is not easy. It takes time, patience, grace, intentionality, and risk taking. Friendship is a practical way to live out the “one another’s” of scripture. There are 59 throughout the Bible; some of the ones that stood out to me are:

o “Honor one another above yourself” {Romans 12:10}

o “Serve one another in love” {Galatians 5:12}

o “Build each other up” {1 Thessalonians 5:11}

o “Confess your sins to each other” {James 5:16}

o “Love one another” {John 15:12}

I pray that as a church, we would be marked by these “one another’s”. They have the power to transform our relationships from surface level, transactional, seasonal friendships into deep, sacrificial, long-lasting joys in our lives.

I am praying that as we let the truth of being fully known in Christ permeate our hearts, this would enable us to love others without hesitation. Friendship is the gospel with flesh on.

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